We have reached such operational efficiency that all work is performed by a single Australian man.

To be fair, that profit barely covers the CEO's salary

They're cutting middle management...and most companies have way too many middle managers to begin with.

Cagey B: We have reached such operational efficiency that all work is performed by a single Australian man.

Done in one

Submitter's headline is retarded.

SushiJoe: To be fair, that profit barely covers the CEO's salary

Arn't profits counted after salary?

That should give them a whopping .05% increase in profit if each worker makes on average 25000.

What does that translate into as a percentage of revenues?

Ok so 3 billion in profit. How much of that profit in percentage?

They could have grossed 500 billion, which in that case, 3 billion in profit wouldn't seem so big.

Ah what do you care subby, logic has no place here.

$3 billion profit for the quarter.

For a company with $200 billion in market cap?

Not so big, especially when that company's profits dropped so much in the last year.

Shell laid off 500 senior management earlier this year, before they got around to cutting lower-level jobs. Their P/E is more than 14, which puts them in the "not bad, but not spectacular" level of company profits...

One more time, for you folks who see "billion" and immediately scream "greedy bastards" - three billion dollar profits for companies worth HUNDREDS of billions of dollars is not, by any stretch, greedy.

Drakin020: Ok so 3 billion in profit. How much of that profit in percentage?

They could have grossed 500 billion, which in that case, 3 billion in profit wouldn't seem so big.

Ah what do you care subby, logic has no place here.

Welcome to FAIL FARK.

Where does the line form to defend Big Oil?

I expect a rational discussion centering around the percentage of earnings this figure represents.

Labrat407: That should give them a whopping .05% increase in profit if each worker makes on average 25000.

The jobs are in middle management, so the total compensation (including health insurance, FICA, 401k matching, and whatever else) is at least 100k. The savings is at least half a billion.

/Just sayin'

So if profit goes into research and development, and it's only 3 billion this quarter (say 90 days) what costs more than $33,333,333 a day?

/as I understand it, profit normally goes into a futures account for R&D or expansion

Typical. "We still made a hefty profit, but not as much as last year, so obviously we need to make a blood sacrifice to the Wall Street Gods."

Corporations are evil.

JavanDane: Drakin020: Ok so 3 billion in profit. How much of that profit in percentage?

They could have grossed 500 billion, which in that case, 3 billion in profit wouldn't seem so big.

Ah what do you care subby, logic has no place here.

Welcome to FAIL FARK.

$3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

AppleOptionEsc: /as I understand it, profit normally goes into a futures account for R&D or expansion

That's just what they want you to think! The money is really used to bribe congress find new and creative ways to let big oil grind their jack boots into the spines of the consumer class. Oh and to allow them to pollute the earth skies and oceans beyond any hope of repair.

as long as they cut the check for the guy i'm training rhis week

and don't let dave go

Lando Lincoln: hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

No, you'll likely raise the margin to 2 pennies per unit. Or go hollywood finance and get the government to bail you out.

Lando Lincoln: hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

Well, you should, or you're a pretty piss-poor excuse for a publicly traded company. Unless you want the shareholders to run your ass out of the company, you better start thinking about your obligations to their investments.

Friskya: Well, you should, or you're a pretty piss-poor excuse for a publicly traded company. Unless you want the shareholders to run your ass out of the company, you better start thinking about your obligations to their investments.

I'm sorry, did I give you the impression I was a publicly traded company?

To quote the great George Carlin:

"They don't give a fark about you. THEY DON'T GIVE A FARK ABOUT YOU! At all. At all. At all."


/At all.

Job cuts should start from the top. Senior management failed to do their job, and stockholders lost. The "failing global economy" is just an excuse for poor leadership. Excuses are not permitted at the middle management level, and should not be permitted at the top.

I buy from the least biggest asssholes in the Oil Business, and that is shell. BP is my next choice.


like Exxon/mobil and chevron never cuts employees. yea, right.

I'm no accounting wiz, but doesn't it make sense that if companies didn't have any workers to pay ... profits would be like, really huge?

Lando Lincoln: hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

The investors will though.

Lando Lincoln: hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

Profit margins mean everything. If your investment only returns 4%, what incentive do you have to keep or put more money into it? You might as well buy T-bills.

biglot: I'm no accounting wiz, but doesn't it make sense that if companies didn't have any workers to pay ... profits would be like, really huge?

If labor represents the bulk of your costs, then maybe. If the bulk of your costs are basic inputs (raw materials) and capital expenditures (equipment), then... maybe.

Harvey Manfrenjensenjen: If labor represents the bulk of your costs, then maybe. If the bulk of your costs are basic inputs (raw materials) and capital expenditures (equipment), then... maybe.

I love your Fark handle.

Don't call me stupid, just thank me!

Uh, in relative terms, that's not a whole lot. 3 billion is probably a pretty tiny fraction compared to overall money flow (gross income, expenditures).

Also:

some 5,000 jobs, primarily in middle managment.

So they're not making enough profit to justify the existence of people that don't really do much but draw a salary, cry me a river.

And:

Labrat407: That should give them a whopping .05% increase in profit if each worker makes on average 25000.

Even the guys who mop the floors and fix the toilets make significantly more than that if they do it on an oil rig. Working around the drilling equipment means you're worth a lot more than your average ditch-digger in specialized skills and willingness to accept physical risk, and you're worth more than that in the white-collar section because you are responsible for a lot of assets and they need someone competent and careful.

And since it's middle management in oil, think something like 100k in salary alone per worker, maybe even triple that when other employment expenses are factored in.

//Anyhow, oil is a good industry and it makes good money. But it hasn't made ridiculous, speculation-bubble type money for anyone but speculators since finding the stuff required a dowsing rod and an indian guide.

Lando Lincoln: hp6sa: $3.25B on about $75B in revenue, a margin of ~4.3%. THEY'RE EVIL I TELL YOU!

Profit margins do not mean shiat in this context. If I make a product that give me a profit of one cent per unit, but I sell 100 billion units per year, I'm not going to sit around and complain about how I only make a penny per unit profit.

Profit margin doesn't mean anything in the oil industry? Are you insane or are you just an Amish guy fresh into rumspringa or whatever? Their costs and the value of their refined product can easily shift more than 5% in a month, margins are pretty important to maintain.

//Wait a second... that was a little TOO stupid. D'oh, guess I got trolled.

Lando Lincoln: Friskya: Well, you should, or you're a pretty piss-poor excuse for a publicly traded company. Unless you want the shareholders to run your ass out of the company, you better start thinking about your obligations to their investments.

I'm sorry, did I give you the impression I was a publicly traded company?

No. No you didn't.

If you were a publicly traded company, you would already be aware of just how important the margin is, as opposed to the total amount. Your lack of knowledge in this fundamental aspect of economics shows that you couldn't possibly survive as a publicly traded company.

/my fault - should have said "you would be a pretty piss-poor excuse"
//you'd think I would have learned by now

In other news, corporations do not exist to provide jobs for workers; instead they exist to provide returns for their shareholders. More at 11.

Interesting that people line up to shiat all over these 5000 dead men walking. There's likely a large overlap between those who cheer firing all these useless middle managers and those who mock poor people who are making less than $20 / hour as being not worth any more than that. What exactly is it that you do that's so farking valuable?

Pretty much every job description is becoming less valuable by the day. The more the retail and service sectors tank, the more they will take the skilled and professional sectors with them.